Rice alum led NASA's final shuttle launch

Flight Director Kwatsi Alibaruho earned Jones School MBA while working on Atlantis mission

BY MIKE WILLIAMSRice News staff

When Kwatsi Alibaruho leaves NASA for the private sector this week with a Rice University executive MBA in hand, he will do so with the satisfaction of a mission well accomplished.

It's been a full year for Alibaruho, who earned his degree from Rice's Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business in the spring.

Last week when Atlantis landed in Florida, the Clear Lake resident completed his task as lead flight director for NASA's final space shuttle mission. This week Alibaruho is departing Mission Control at Johnson Space Center (JSC) to assume a new role as executive director of systems engineering for Hamilton Sunstrand, a Connecticut-based subsidiary of United Technologies that develops aerospace, industrial and space system products.